The Key
by li3atinali3
Summary: Welcome to Australia's alternative to Xavier's Institute - but not everyone is here to help. During-Post X3.
1. Frustration

**1. Frustration.**

**Sydney, Australia.**

The day had begun, more or less, like any other, with the sun peeking through her blinds casting parallel lines of light across her purple bedroom walls.  
She pulled her arm from her warm blankets and fumbled on her bed-side table, looking for any sort of apparatus that would tell her the time.  
_1 New Message_, her phone read.  
_Hey Alice, we're still meeting up at 10 right?_ It was a message from Mina, Alice's best friend, or what could be considered a best friend.  
"Crraaaaaap," Alice moaned, only just remembering that she was having a picnic with Mina and a few of her other friends. It was 10:10, and in no less than fifteen minutes she was dressed and ready to get out and about.

Alice hadn't put much thought into her outfit, but she hadn't needed to. She wasn't courageous enough to wear anything more than a pair of grey or blue jeans and a plain top, usually purple – her favourite colour. Truth was, she considered it more of a necessity to remain as non-descript as possible, especially with everything that had happened overseas with all those groups for and against mutants. It seemed as though in Australia, there was a sort of uneasy peace. The less noticeable _anyone_ was, the better.  
There were constant rumors floating around of new organizations being created to help mutants, and then rumors of those same places being destroyed. That there were small factions of mutant groups who plotted against non-mutants, and vice versa. All those groups terrified Alice – they were so vicious and so devoted to their cause, no sane mutant or non-mutant would ever consider crossing paths with the more fundamentalist groups.  
Though, she had nothing to be worried about, the mutant gene hadn't appeared in her family, as far as she knew, she would rather be safe than sorry. She smiled to herself as she pulled out a pair of grey jeans and her favourite purple long sleeved top, the one with the holes that she could slip her thumbs into. She gathered her belongings and dumped them in her bag whilst attempting to put on a light red lipgloss and brush her brown hair – at the same time, before running out the front door.  
"Do you need a lift?" her father called as she skidded down the driveway, past his car.  
"Nah! I'll be right!" she yelled out waving goodbye.

The city was where her friends had decided to hold their picnic, which meant Alice had to succumb to a short ride in an old, derelict train full of odd smells and colorful graffiti with very colorful language.  
She reached Central Station before she knew it, without little action too. There were only a few people in her carriage, but they like her, were busy listening to music in their own little worlds. Though, even if there were mutants on the train, with the recent law that was passed, it would be considered a crime for them to display their abilities. Even though the idea of being a mutant scared Alice slightly, she didn't agree with the alienation they were forced to experience by both friends and family.  
The platform was practically empty so spotting her black-haired, tanned skinned friend.  
"Alice! My God, you couldn't have taken any longer!" said an exasperated Mina as she approached her friend, "everyone's starving cos of you, you know!" Mina hit Alice playfully in the arm, not seeing the slight wince of pain that Alice felt. She wasn't very strong, or toned. Or even muscular.  
"I'm sorry, uh, my alarm clock didn't go off," she lied, "we're heading to a park right?" Alice asked, honestly wondering where they were even going to consider having a picnic in the city.  
"Of course… we've all just bought some take out, and we're going to eat there, duuh. I got you a kiddy meal, but Hannah took the toy thing and chucked it into a water feature," Mina smirked as Alice sighed; it wasn't an unknown fact that Hannah and Alice didn't get along very well.  
"At least it wasn't my meal… But just to be safe, can we get there like, as fast as we can?" Alice urged, thinking of the fastest route to the park, already irritated at her friend's behavior. Now that she was out of school, Alice couldn't grasp why she was still hanging out with Hannah. She annoyed her throughout high school, and she would be a fool to think it would ever cease.

When they reached the park, two of Alice's friends were busy trying to ward Hannah away from everyone else's food. Alice rolled her eyes at her red-haired friend.  
"Hey Alice, sleep in again?" asked Jess, playing with her blonde hair.  
"No… alarm clock," she replied, hoping her lie would stick.  
"Sure," Jess grinned as she gave up trying to braid her hair, "have a look at that!" she exclaimed, her eyes following a group of older students as they made their way under a tree.  
"Haha! Hottie alert!" giggled Sally.  
"Oh, dibs on the tall one, he looks cute," grinned Mina as she leant back, accidentally knocking over a bottle of soda.  
"Who are you looking at Aaaallliiiiccceee?" chimed Hannah mischievously, who had obviously seen her glancing at one of the young guys.  
"No one!" Alice blushed, anxious to end the conversation as Hannah had approached other guys the girls had thought were attractive.  
"Was it that guy there?" Hannah pointed at the fellow under the tree.  
"No. It was the tree. I was uh, looking at the tree he was leaning on…" Alice stumbled; Mina glanced over smiling and shaking her head.  
They all knew where this was going.  
Hannah stood up, Alice's face already red, and walked over to the guy.  
Alice was furious.  
All she could feel was totally resentment, anger, even hate. Why would a friend do something so stupid like that? At the back of her mind Alice knew it was a petty reason to be angry, but she shook that thought off. She wanted any reason to not have to talk to Hannah again, and this situation was close to perfect.  
Hannah sat back down next to her and slid a piece of paper in front of Alice's face.  
"What's that you have there?" asked Sally.  
Jess tried to reach over and grab it from Hannah's hands, but missed and fell on top of Mina.  
"I," Hannah began, beaming, "got his number!"

The guy looked up and Alice caught his eye, and in an awesome wave of light-headed-ness, everything went black.

* * *

_Did I make myself so angry I passed out?_

_I can't be unconscious and still… talking, to myself at least._

_My eyes… are open, right?_

_Oh god._

_I'm blind._

_Crap._

_Crap._

_Crap._

Bright lights hit Alice's eyes, but she didn't cringe. For a while she felt like she was coming in and out of some random dream filled with endless cities and landscapes. She was sure that at some point her mind had even conjured up an image of her family's kitchen!  
Unsure of whether this was a continuation of a dream or not, she opened her eyes tentatively, and once she was sure she was awake she sat up and felt her stomach flop around inside her.  
She was in a park, but not in the city.  
In fact, this park seemed a lot like to the one near her place.  
'How did I end up here?' she muttered to herself, standing up and trying to pat off the grass and dirt all over her clothes.  
'Hannah must've knocked me out cold or something, and dumped me here… oh god, I hope nothing happened to me…' she was sure nothing did, she didn't feel violated or anything that could resemble coming down from a drug.  
She knew herself enough not to think too deeply on it, she would annihilate Hannah tomorrow, or something.

Luckily home wasn't far, and she was at her front door trying to unlock it in no time. It was maybe 6 in the evening, but it was still light, and her parent's cars were in the driveway, but she didn't want to make a big fuss about coming home.  
"Alice?" called her mother from the kitchen, "is that you?"  
Her mother walked out and stopped some three meters from her daughter.  
"Sam, it's Alice!" she called to her husband. Sam walked in and stood beside her, his hands holding her shoulders almost protectively.  
"Um… sorry I'm late, Hannah must've hit me on the head today or something… I just need some rest," Alice explained to the best of her recollection.  
"Alice… It's been two days," Sam told her, peering at her over his glasses.  
"No it hasn't. I went out this morning at 10 or something. What are you talking about?"  
"You've been missing for…two days…" Alice's mother stammered, she looked as if she was barely holding back tears.  
"Oh…" Alice suddenly felt sick.  
"Alice, is there something you want to tell us? Something that you might be… worried about?" asked her father.  
She had no idea what he was talking about.  
"Well… no. What are you talking about Dad? I'm worried about what happened in those two days… but nothing else… aren't you worried about those two days?" Alice tried to make sense of the situation. If she had indeed been missing for two whole days, why were her parents so cautious around her? Why weren't they running to greet and hug and kiss her?  
"Alice," her mother started, "you… well, appeared in the middle of the kitchen with this… wild look in your eyes… and then you just… disappeared again."  
Alice felt as if she was going to gag.  
What?  
No way.  
Impossible.  
"If you've been able to…do…this… why didn't you tell us? We could've gotten help. There are groups out there who know how to deal with people like… well…" her father demanded, looking a little angry.  
"People like what? I'm not a mutant if that's what you're trying to say! I don't know what mum saw! She was probably just worried and hallucinated or something!" Alice tried to look into the eyes of both her parents, but they were determined to look away.  
She knew that if she couldn't prove that she wasn't actually there, in their kitchen, she would lose her parents. They weren't very keen on the whole mutant thing.  
"I saw you too," her father replied softly.  
"Can I… just, go get some rest? Please…" Alice begged, eager to leave the room.  
Her parents nodded and watched as she left the room with a look of nervousness, as if they were expecting her to set them on fire.  
Or at least make them turn to ash.

It was quiet in her room, the way she liked it. She only really listened to music when she was painting, or on public transportation.  
"What happened Alice Kaey? What's wrong with you?" she asked herself, pacing around.  
A sudden thought of inspiration hit her, and she dove for her phone which she had thrown onto her bed. Quickly she dialed Mina's number and called.  
And called.  
Finally, on her third attempt to reach her, Mina picked up.  
"Mina?" Alice asked.  
"Yes?" replied a hushed tone.  
"It's me… Alice. Um… can you possibly… tell me what happened to me uh, two days ago?" she asked, hoping she would get some answers.  
"Alice, I can't talk to you. Your parents called mine, they spoke. I'm sorry," and Mina hung up.  
Shocked, Alice threw her phone back on her bed and stood in the middle of the room sulking.  
Maybe she_is_ a mutant. Maybe she _can_ teleport.  
Maybe she could teleport or something… right now, if she tried.  
Any moment now.  
Alice stood there, thinking as hard as she could about different locations, different areas and different places, but would not move.  
'How queer…' she muttered to herself. Maybe it was all in her head.

She awoke the next morning wishing madly that what occurred was just a dream. A weird, twisted dream that she could easily forget.  
From outside her bedroom, she could hear chatter, and not just her parents. Though they were muffled, she was sure there were other men there.  
Alice walked out, weary of the extra company and set out to make breakfast, hoping that she had slipped from their view.  
"Alice, please come in here," her mother called from the den, interrupting her thoughts.  
Alice sauntered into the den and spied to grown men in sharp suits, sitting opposite her parents. They eyed her cautiously, the very same look her parents gave her last night.  
_Last night_… so it wasn't a dream, she sighed.  
"So, Alice, your parents said you are experiencing some changes that you would like some help with?" one of the suited men told her, as if she only had to listen.  
"We discussed with your parents of a sort of facility that helps kids through times like these. It will be like going to a boarding school," the other added.  
"I suppose I'm going then?" Alice said bluntly, knowing that they had made their decisions.  
"Well, we would like you to, but it's up to you…" her father started.  
She knew what that meant; they wanted her to go and get fixed.  
"How do you know I'm even a mutant? Maybe that guy used _his_ powers and made me do whatever I did? Did you ever think of that?" Alice stood up and crossed her arms defiantly. It _was_ after all, a fair possibility.  
One of the men turned his gaze to Alice and asked, "What exactly _did_ happen, then? What do you remember?"  
Alice hadn't really thought on that, she merely tried to comprehend how fast people seemed to be turning from her just for thinking she could possibly be a mutant.  
"Um, well, I was with my friends and this guy looked at me, or I looked at him, either way I must've looked in his eyes and the next thing I know I blacked out… after that it was like I was dreaming that I was waking up in all these different places… I ended up in a park around the corner, and here I am. Apparently I was gone for two days!" she explained.  
The men seemed to be talking under their breath to one another, and not even Alice's parents seemed to understand.  
"Well," one began, "it _is_ possible that these weren't her abilities, merely another planted them _in_ her… nonetheless, we would like to test to see if these are her abilities. May I?" he directed the final question not at her, but at her mother and father. They nodded in response, and just before she could object her head began to ache. The dull pain began to grow and grow until her head felt as if it was going to explode.  
_My daughter is a mutant _said a female voice, shrouded in sorrow. _How can I love something that isn't even human? How could I have given life to such a being?_ It was her mother's voice, but Alice couldn't see her mouth move.  
Then more voices came through her ears like a massive tidal wave, but no one appeared to be making a sound. She was beginning to feel immensely dizzy and before she knew it, everything went black.


	2. Hannah

**2. Hannah.**

She awoke early the next day to a strange buzzing sensation under her back, she pulled out her ringing phone to meet the voice of Hannah.  
"Alice? It's Hannah. Mina just told me what happened" Hannah said, full of concern.  
"That's more than what she did for me. She won't talk to me for some reason. Do you know what's going on?" Alice was quick to inquire.  
"Yeah, how about we meet up and I'll tell you everything, alright? Um, ten minutes at the park near your place? Under the trees, alright?" and she hung up without waiting for a reply.Hannah was the very last person Alice wanted to see, but she needed to leave the watchful eyes of her parents and she desperately wanted answers.  
All she could piece together was somehow, she was receptive to other mutations and could almost duplicate. But when they came to her they were much stronger than what they were in the original host – which explained why she blacked out both times someone else's powers got into her. It seemed fairly reasonable, but it made her feel uneasy. Both times it had happened it felt like someone was forcing themselves into her mind, like they had barged through the door, and what was worse was that strange feeling as though what entered still remained.

Maybe those powers stayed with her?

She sat up against her bed holding her knees. She had only really gotten her life back on track and had really enjoyed her seventeenth year; she didn't want to have to spend the rest of her life hiding who she was. She didn't want anymore secrets.

Only five minutes had passed and Alice was close to jumping around, ready to leave. She had a feeling that Hannah had all the answers, or at least enough to make her satiate her.  
She left her home silently, though her parents had already left for work, and ran to the park. Hannah hadn't arrived yet, so Alice hung out around the swings, looking at the odd clump of trees. As kids, she used to hang around those trees with Mina, a friend who seemed to have forgotten her now; it was a little sad coming back. Her thoughts were broken, though, when Hannah arrived with a grimace on her face and ushering her towards the thick trees in the corner of the park.  
"So you're a mutant then? That's what Mina told me. When did this happen? _Why_ didn't you tell us? Wait… never mind, that's not important…" Hannah rushed.  
"Wait! What happened when we went out? Please, I have no idea… Please tell me!" Alice begged.  
Hannah sighed and sat down a dry patch of grass before continuing, "well, we were all sitting around laughing and all that. I got that guy's number, you looked pretty agitated, dunno why, you said you weren't looking at him. Anyway, you looked up, your eyes went really wide and they went well, black… and you disappeared. Freaked the girls out something big. Mina had her back turned so you thought you ran away and wouldn't believe us. That guy had the same look on his face, except he looked all white, like he was going to pass out. That's what happened…" she took a breath, "now… the only reason why I haven't run away is because _I'm a mutant too_."  
"What?!" Alice exclaimed in shock; she hadn't expected something like that.  
"Yes, I'm telekinetic. Not an especially strong one, but it's what I can do," and Hannah demonstrated right in front of Alice, she levitated a leaf.  
"No! Don't! There's laws against using powers in public!" Alice gasped at her friend.  
"Not if they don't catch you. Now, what happened to you? What can you do?" and Alice retold her story of the dream, which she was certain now, was in reality, her appearing in different places. She included the men at her house and her conclusion about her powers.  
"Please don't tell anyone what I can do. I don't want more people trying to test it out by shoving themselves into my mind."  
"That's interesting. Though, have you thought that if people can get into your mind, that perhaps _you_ can get into _theirs_?" Hannah pondered out loud.  
"I don't know… I haven't really wanted to try either. I don't want to meet some mutant who can like, make things catch on fire or something, and burn down a house cos I can't control it…"  
"Try it with me… I'm not strong at all… go on," Hannah offered, "it'll be a good experiment!"  
"Alright…" Alice was hesitant, she wasn't sure what she had to do, but she was becoming interested in her powers. Maybe it'll be useful…  
She tried to remember what she did the first time her abilities manifested themselves. She was irritated, but that probably didn't matter. But she did look right into their eyes… Alice began to stare into Hannah's eyes and a strange feeling began to come over her. It was as though part of her mind had crossed the space between the two and well_ unlocked_ the door to Hannah's mind.  
And inside was just information. No thoughts, just memories and genetic information. She needed to find her powers, but they could be just about anywhere in this mess. She pushed her mind through Hannah's, careful not to bump anything and came across a strangely energetic part, it was alluring and wonderful, it made her happy, so she took it. Well, more like copied, and as soon as it hit her own mind she drew back.

Alice woke from her stupor hovering about three meters above the ground.

Hannah looked unaffected, but rather shocked at her friend, "when did that happen? I swear I didn't know you were there… what?!" she rambled.  
"Oh, ha ha, Hannah. As if you didn't. I was poking around in there. You_must_ have known I was in there…" Alice rolled her eyes and began to concentrate on floating back down again, which was harder than what she thought. Perhaps Hannah was stronger than what she let on…  
"No way. How did it feel, but?" she asked.  
"Um, well, I guess… it felt good. Like, I would do it again if it wasn't so risky… but it was wonderful. I was happy and it felt like I was being recharged. I would have stayed in that spot in your mind forever if I hadn't broken away," Alice continued to concentrate – she had at least managed to stop herself from floating upwards…  
"That's creepy Alice. And what's creepier is that I didn't know you were there, and I've been trained to put up blocks. It's like your mind created the perfect key…"  
"Hannah,_why_ are you helping me?" Alice asked having finally floated down.  
"Because, well those guys you told me about, I'm going there as soon as summer is over. I was hoping you would come too?" replied Hannah.

Ah, why hadn't she thought of that?

But they couldn't possibly be that dangerous if they took someone with such weak powers like Hannah, right? What use could they have for her? Alice had never even heard of places like this existing, other than in America, and that was just a school-yard rumor to make kids scared about acting out.  
"I don't know…" Alice mumbled, "How do you know it's legit?"  
"I've seen it, it's really nice… well, the grounds look nice. I haven't actually been inside. The people there are really nice too…I trust it…them, especially if it means being around other people like us, where we don't have to hide."  
"You make it sound like we have some sort of sickness, though. Like we have to be quarantined from society," Alice frowned. Rounding up every mutant like that sounded an awful lot like a detention center.  
"Well, they help you develop your powers in safe and responsible ways, so that you can blend in better once you finish up there. And you can stay for as long as it takes," replied Hannah.  
"No catch?"  
"Nope, not one."  
"Alright," said Alice, "I'll think about it. With you going it's not so daunting, and I'm sure my parents would be keen to have me out of the house…" she sighed, thinking of how scared her parents had become of her.  
Hannah smiled, glad she had a friend with her. She was certain that this institute was safe, but she would have to find out when they got there.

Alice broke the news of her departure to her parents that night during another awkwardly silent dinner. It was news that made them smile, and Alice wasn't sure it was because their daughter was getting the support she needed. It seemed like they were smiling at the thought that she was going to leave.

"Can't smear the family name with mutant genes, can we now." Alice smirked darkly as she slipped into bed that night.

* * *

A/N: Alright, so this was a lot shorter than what I had anticipated, but that's what I get for distracting myself with manga. A weak story line and poor writing, that's what I get.   
So, anyway, if anyone is actually reading this, please review and tell me what you think. But nothing too awful, cos if it's bad I'll feel terrible... rambles on

NEXT CHAPTER: March.  
Should be out soon, I don't know, really.


	3. March

**3. March**

Summer came and went, and in the Kaey household it was as if nothing happened. Alice didn't mind, though. She spent most of her time away from her home and off with Hannah, where they spent countless days learning about each other's mutations. The speed at which she had drawn closer to Hannah amazed Alice. It was as if learning of Alice's powers, Hannah had calmed down. She was patient in the ways she'd help Alice learn how to control her powers, because she had been there herself – only alone, and Alice very much appreciated.

During the hotter months, she had lost contact with the rest of her friends. She suspected it was partially due to what Mina had told them, but she didn't mind. Though she still annoyed her, Hannah was a good person and her loud personality was enough company for Alice.

"Wow Alice, it took you half the time to control your powers than it did for me. I'm really proud of you," smiled Hannah one late afternoon. The sun was setting casting an eerie red haze across the sky, creating strange, creepy patterns across the grass through the trees.

"You did help me out quite a bit, especially with controlling my emotions. Though, I still think you had too much fun trying to make me angry," Alice smirked, remembering how Hannah had thrown rocks and insulted her all day long just so Alice could control her emotions, and thus control her powers. They had both found, mostly through trial and error, that if Alice remained as stoic as possible, the risk of her copying anything from anyone decreased dramatically – though, remaining stoic was a hard enough feat to accomplish.

"I had to be sure you had it down," replied Hannah, trying not to laugh.

"Well, that didn't mean you had to call me everyday at three in the morning, nor did it mean you had to go through my stuff and read my diary… and then tell people what I wrote about them! Ugh!" she huffed. Hannah had indeed gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure she could control herself and her powers.

Her parents on the other hand, were slightly less… supportive of their daughter. They seemed to have made a deal with themselves that she was moving to an entirely different country and made sure that their goodbyes didn't indicate a return home.  
They were fast in cleaning out her room and finding someone to rent it out to.

It was just Alice's luck that she would be separated from Hannah, but that didn't bother her. The eight hour bus trip out into what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, allowed her some time to think. Something she cherished.  
Out of the fifteen other people on the bus, only a few of them seemed close to her age, and the rest were younger children. None of them looked any different than the people she left behind. Alice sat and wondered what their powers could possibly be; there were no limitations to the abilities of mutants. Nothing whatsoever.  
None seemed willing to talk to each other, either. Like they were ashamed or didn't trust one another. Alice sank back into her chair aware that it was most likely that they should trust _her_ least. She had the power to quickly copy and amplify their own, the power to copy their memories and to copy the blueprint of their genes so she could know each and every part of what makes that person who they are. As much as she didn't want to be, she was the key to their minds, their being.

Alice was still very reluctant to put her powers to the test, in fear of copying a powerful mutant, and then amplifying it so that it was so far beyond her control, she would risk killing herself. She knew she had no way to identify what powers someone had until she copied them, or at least shifted through their memories which drained her energy, rather than gave her more – and finding out once attaining them was far too dangerous. One thing was certain, she was sure that she had enough control over her powers to provide her the ability to fit into society – the only difference to her physical appearance were her dark hazel eyes, that got darker each time she used her powers, and a sort of red tinge began to appear; but that could be hidden easily enough.

She slipped in and out of a weird day-dream, and woke from her sluggish stupor at their destination. It was dusk, so it was difficult to make out the entire complex, but the environment and the buildings contrasted horribly.  
The walls of the buildings were solid and blank and every window had the shades drawn so only a little light would escape. Surrounding the complex was a tall, high security electric fence that Alice defiantly wanted to avoid. Yet, at the same time, the lush landscape within the area urged her to explore, to sit down and let the world go by while she was safe. As the group approached the fence Alice began to feel even more tired, feeling as though her energy was being zapped away from her. She turned and looked around, noticing that a few of the kids had faltered in their steps and were looking around with a confused expression.

"Don't worry about it children, the fence has been designed so that it subdues your abilities," said a woman calmly as she approached them. She was about thirty, maybe a little older, and was wearing a sort of hospital type uniform.

"Yes dear?" she asked to a child who had raised his hand.

"Does that mean our powers have gone?" he asked.

"No dear, it means your abilities aren't as strong. They're still there, but only a little. This has been put up for your protection against those who use their abilities against others. All you need to do is rush to the fence if you're outside, if you're inside… well, no one is silly enough to use their abilities against one another inside," she replied with a smile, "now children, let's get you inside! It's starting to get cold, we don't want any of you to be ill." The woman began ushering the group inside, Alice dragged behind casting a glance at that foreboding fence.

_Protecting us, or caging us in?_

The woman hadn't given the group much of a chance to settle in; she told them the location of their dormitories and gave them half an hour to unpack, meet whomever they were sharing their room with and then to return for a general assessment. Alice, not wanting to waste time hunting down for her room had duplicated a general map of the single building from the woman's mind with what little power she had left, after having to spend about fifteen minutes next to that fence. As she walked down the corridors, she looked around, hoping to see something that broke the abysmal, clinical feel of the dormitories. It was as though she was walking through a hospital.  
She reached her room down the end of a different hall and entered. There was another girl, about her age already in there, sitting on the bed closest to the door. She looked up and smiled, '_shy, probably_', Alice thought.  
As she stepped in, she realized the girl was playing with something in her lap, her hands weaving around something silver and fluid-like.

"Hello, I'm Shelly. How do you like this?" the girl lifted her hand and on it rested tiny silver, sleeping kitten. She tucked her blonde hair from her face and looked at the kitten carefully.

"It's adorable! I've never seen a cat like it!" Alice exclaimed.

"Oh no, it's not a real kitten… it's just… metal," and the girl closed her hand tightly, crushing the kitten, and opened it again revealing a metal cube.

"That's disappointing… You can manipulate metal, I guess?" Alice asked.

"Only a little, the most I can do is lift a small car about a meter from the ground, probably less, so you needn't worry about me," she smiled, "what's your name?"

"I'm Alice … have you been here long?"

"Hmmm," Shelly stopped to think, "about a year."

"What's it like? I mean… are they nice?" Alice asked, hoping to hear that it was everything the two men that visited her described.

"Mostly, yes," Shelly replied, smiling at Alice's face, "they usually aren't interested in much else but helping and studying you. Unless you've got big powers. They're very keen on the kids who are plenty powerful."

"Who wouldn't be, though?" Alice wondered.

"Mm… yeah, suppose. What is it that you can do?" asked Shelly who looked slightly curious.  
Alice had decided earlier not to tell anyone about her powers, she knew no one would trust her if she did. Though, she didn't count on someone asking her… she thought that was… well, rude.

"Uh, I'm telekinetic," Alice blurted, saying whatever came to mind.

"Oh, we have a few of those," replied Shelly, who had obviously expected something a bit flashier.

"Umm… what about those power stealers? Have any of those?" Alice asked, hoping there would be others like her, but Shelly shook her head. Not wanting to look strange or suspicious, Alice added in a line about finding those sorts of powers interesting.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Alice looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that she had about two minutes to get back to the hall, "I have to go to some assessment thing."

"Good luck!" called Shelly who had already started re-molding her metal cube.

Alice was the last to arrive, so she was the last in the line. She had missed any formal introduction about what was happening, and the children looked too sick with nerves for her to bother asking. Hannnah didn't seem to be there either, which was odd, because she wasn't there when they had arrived.  
There were a few students who weren't new who were scouting those waiting in line. Some had crossed over to the other side of the hall and tried to cheer up some of the smaller children. Though, after about ten minutes they had gotten bored with the grim atmosphere hanging over the hall, and left. All but one boy with pale, olive-brown skin. Alice had noticed that all the while she had been standing there, waiting, he had been looking at her. And he was probably still looking at her. Out of politeness she caught his eyes and smiled back, only to find that it was all the encouragement he needed as he walked over.

"Hey, I'm Blaine!" he held out his hand, cheerfully.

"Hullo," she said, shaking his hand, "I'm Alice."

"You don't look very nervous, Alice," he observed, looking down the line and back at her.

"Yeah… I may not look it," she grinned, "do you know what this is all about?"

"Our Principal likes to meet all the students… it's just like, a quick meeting. When I came I just had to answer some questions about school and stuff."

Without meaning to, Blaine had just reassured Alice. She was glad to hear that she wasn't going to have to sit some random test, or have to talk too much about her powers.

"Where abouts were you from?" he asked, sitting down along the wall. Alice followed suit, and seated herself next to him before replying;

"Sydney, actually. What about you?"

"Newcastle, not too far, aye?"

"I've never been… coming here has been the furthest I've gone from Sydney," she admitted.

"What? You're joking! Your parents…" he trailed off, noticing sudden sense of melancholy developing around Alice, "oh, don't worry about it. A lot of kids are here cos they're parents either didn't care, were ashamed or didn't know what else to do."

She turned her head to him and asked, "And what about you?"

"I think it was a combination of all three," he sighed, leaning back against the wall, "but, I guess if I were them, I wouldn't have known what to do either. Especially when my skin started changing colour. I used to be so tanned," he looked at his arms disappointedly.

"Oh, well, if you stand next to me you'll look a lot darker," she laughed, comparing her light arms to his.

"Deal!"

Blaine had informed her that she was part of the second group that had arrived here today, and Alice felt a little better knowing that Hannah had to endure this first, and probably without anyone. Before long until it was her turn, and all the nerves she had pushed away hit her in one brute force. She opened the door and walked in on trembling knees with Blaine encouraging her with a smile behind her.  
The room had an old atmosphere; the furniture was dark wood and the lights emitted a yellow glow, creating a stark contrast to the rest of the facility.  
Behind the desk sat a man of about forty who was busy writing something down. He looked up and calmly motioned Alice to sit down.

"Good evening, Alice Kaey I understand. I only have a few questions which will determine your permanent residence and the classes you will be attending. I am John Simons, the director, owner and well, principal of this establishment." He held out his hand and Alice shook it apprehensively.  
He asked the basic questions regarding her age, home-life and schooling and before long he had reached the topic of her mutation; a topic she would have been happy to have overlooked.

"Now, this can be an uncomfortable topic for most students that enter, but you are older than our other new arrivals so it shouldn't be too painful. It's only a few questions, and if you feel like we… I… am prying far too much, you needn't answer," he smiled warmly at Alice who nodded in agreement. She didn't know if he had been told about her mutation and was happy to let him do as much of the talking as possible.

"So, I suppose the first question would be when was the first time you can think of that you experienced your abilities?"

"Um, only recently…" she answered.

"Curious…" he mumbled, writing something down.

"What is?" Alice asked.

"Well, most individuals exhibit signs of a mutation at adolescence. Though, it isn't unheard of persons experiencing it a few years later, so don't you worry."

"Oh, well, alright."

"So, my next question I only partially know the answer to. It's probably the most obvious question, and that is, what are exactly your abilities?"

Alice thought for a moment, unsure of how to answer that. She would prefer to lie and tell him that she is telekinetic, but what if he knew what she could do already?

"How about you tell me what you know, and I'll fill in the blanks?" she asked, hoping he'd catch on that she was feeling uncomfortable.

He smiled knowingly and crossed his arms before starting, "As far as I know you are able to take in the abilities of other mutants, whether it is by force by another, or a conscious act on your half, I am not certain. But I do believe that you are able to amplify these powers."

After he had finished a silence loomed overhead. He didn't know that she could access that sort of information on her own accord, and it seemed that he believed that it was only mutant powers she could copy.

"Alice, you shouldn't feel like you have to keep anything from me. We're all here to help you cope with a particularly confusing time in your life. If it makes you feel any more comfortable, I too, am a mutant."

She had guessed as much already, though, the only other mutants she had met other than Hannah was one of the men that came to her home, and she began to frantically start building up blocks in her mind. Though, there was something harmless about this man, he showed an immense amount of care towards her without having to do much.

"I am able to control biological, or living, matter. Non-thinking matter of course, so I can't go and control you as a whole… though your cells, that's another story," he grimaced, "as you can imagine, with abilities like mine, it isn't easy to gain the trust of my fellow colleagues and students." Alice felt a twinge of guilt, he had opened up and she was still hiding away.

"I… uh, can go into other people's minds and copy information. If its powers, I can amplify it," she mumbled mostly to herself.

John Simon's interest picked up. She indeed, knew more about her powers than he anticipated. Alice, being a mutant who could created and open doors to another's mind, could use that power to channel information out, but what's to say she couldn't channel something_into_ another being?  
How interesting.

"It is incredible that one individual can be made to be able to store and use so much information," he thought out loud.

Alice smiled and nodded; she was so relieved that he wasn't making a fuss over it, that maybe she wouldn't have to hide her powers from anyone.

"I see you look a little happier," he noted.

"Yeah, I was worried I'd have to well, hide my powers. I don't think they're the type of abilities that'll encourage people to trust me…"

"There's no reason at all to hide who you are or your abilities when everyone is here to help you! Now, I'm sorry to cut this short but I have a few things to take care of, and I suppose you wouldn't mind having a look around or having a better chance to settle in. It was nice to meet you Alice Kaey."

Alice stood up and shook his hand before turning around and leaving, heading back to her room. She had something to tell her new friends.

* * *

A/N: Helloooo! Chapter three! It's a little longer than the last two, and I hope it filled in a few more gaps. I'm aware of how powerful Alice could potentially be, and believe me, it isn't without it's drawbacks!Um, yeah. New characters, though, there's a lot less Hannah. I tried to put her in as much as I could, but she just... didn't fit as well as I'd hoped.

I have the next chapter done, but because this story is moving a little too fast I'm going to have to move and add things, so if anyone's reading this (I'm looking at everyone who's been lurking...) it may be a little while!  
So, don't forget to **review**, nothing too nasty though...

I love the name Alice! And how cute is Blaine .

NEXT CHAPTER: ... not too sure yet.

Bethie!


	4. Hypothesis

Disclaimer: Well, it appears as though I have neglected writing one of these things. I think it's fairly obvious that every single character in this story thus far is a creation of my own.  
So, I'll keep Blaine, Alice, Simon, Hannah and Evie thank you very much! Teehee! **  
**

Onward with the story!

**  
4. Hypothesis**

'Hey Blaine, Alice. Have you seen Evie? I have something she'll be stoked to hear about!' panted Hannah who had just come tearing down a hall.

Blaine, knowing that this would lead to another week of paranoia from the girl herself, directed the fidgety red-haired in a vague, but more importantly, wrong direction.

'Wonder what it is this time,' asked Alice, whose stay at the School had just reached a month.

'It'll be the same bull as always,' Blaine rolled his eyes, tucking a loose lock of ashen hair back into place; 'Hannah shouldn't encourage her. I mean, it used to be fun listening to her go on about how evil it is here, but it's just… stupid now.'

'Well, I still find it amusing,' grinned Alice.

'But you've only been here a month. Wait until you've been here six. You'll want to wring her neck,' he retorted, 'I don't even know why she still hangs out with us.'

'Don't be mean, she's a nice girl,' Alice said, slapping Blaine lightly across his arm.

In the month that she had been at the School, Alice had made a few new friends, in spite of losing most contact with her family back in Sydney. Blaine was clumsy a boy of fifteen, who's mutation meant that he resembled something close to a ghost – his powers meant that he could transport his 'spirit' whilst leaving his body in a heavy comatose state behind. Evie, on the other hand, was a tall, tanned, older girl who's telepathy allowed her to hear the current thoughts of anyone around her. She was a paranoid girl, who believed strongly that they were trapped here and the staff spent their nights conspiring ways of how to manipulate their powers for their own gain.  
Both Alice and Blaine zoned out whenever Evie began her rant – she never had proof and often relied on the passing thoughts of the younger students who were prone to creating meaningless rumors. Hannah listened intently.

Though, Alice spent most of her free time hanging out with Blaine, who still struggled to maintain control over his powers. Often, there were times where he'd do something minor, like stumble or bump into something and he would become detached from his body – though the incidence of these…encounters, were declining, it was still a pain for Alice to catch his body before it hit the ground.  
Because he was younger than her, they didn't share the same classes, so Alice spent most of her class time with Evie and Hannah, who, when together, made a pretty decent being to be around. Alice was glad though, that she hadn't had to worry about hanging around Hannah all the time, and she could see her friend felt the same way. They were much too different.

It was the middle of the day, in biology, when Evie's face fell into that familiar inane expression she would adopt whenever reading passing thoughts. Hannah caught a glimpse and lit up, waiting on edge to hear what Evie heard.

'Hey, hey Alice… look! It must be real good, she's still listening!' Hannah thumped her friend who was busy copying notes on the structure of the kidney from an overhead.

'Seriously Hannah, I don't want to fail… I'm just passing as it is. Tell me later, okay? Ugh, I missed that about the Loop of Henle!' Alice waved her pen in Hannah's face, who just huffed and went back to watching Evie.

'Hey Evie, are you alright?' asked Hannah, waving her hand in front of Evie's face, her friend still staring off into the distance.

'Alice, she's still like this…' she murmured to her, Alice's response was to allow her long, brown hair to fall over the side of her face; a very blunt dismissal.

'Oh, sorry Hannah, I dozed off there,' Alice could hear Evie say. She could also hear her mutter something under her breath, but couldn't care less as to what it was.

'Don't forget that on Wednesday I will be testing you all on the structure and function of the kidney… so study!' called out the teacher over the bell that was ringing, but was left unheard as the teens rushed out of the lab.

'So, do you wanna know what she heard?' Hannah asked as herself, Evie and Alice sat down outside to have lunch.

'What who heard?' Blaine asked, walking up from behind and sitting down next to Alice, 'is this something to do with Evie?'

Evie poked out her tongue, 'hey, you know this time I think I really am on to something… don't you want to know, even a little?'

Alice groaned; she knew that Evie would just implode and tell them anyway, so she nudged Blaine who shut his mouth before he could say anything rude.

'Ms. Lepare got a note, and as soon as she started reading it I could like, hear it yeah. It took me a while to sift out her own thoughts from the note, but she was thinking of something about the students – about us – and,' Evie squinted, thinking hard, 'something about tests.'

'Of course she said something about test Evie,' Alice groaned, throwing her hands up in the air, 'she was probably thinking about the test she set us for Wednesday!'  
Evie grinned sheepishly while Blaine high-fived Alice.

* * *

Sure enough, it only took the time span of two weeks for Evie and Hannah to hype up what she had heard, thus creating a small following.  
'Truth is what we want, as simple as that. Let them see us banded together, let that pressure them into telling us what it _really_ going on here!' Hannah told a crowd. It was a cold afternoon in the grounds, and the students were clustered together, trying to keep warm. Evie and Hannah were standing on a couple of chairs before the students, telling them their hypothesis. Though, their hypotheses were merely guesses based off what Evie hear in biology.  
And that was it.  
Evie stepped off her chair and sat down, massaging her head whilst Hannah continued repeating their slogan of wanting the truth. 

'They want something from us, and if it's something they have to hide it's not going to be a good thing! What are they planning?' Evie yelled, slowly standing back up one the chair, 'What are they planning?!' she screamed, the crowd following suit, and a chorus of that question erupted. Evie coughed and sat back down again – her voice had sounded hoarse, and as soon as she sat down she began to rub her throat.

'Spread the word! Show them we know what they're up to!' Hannah ordered to the crowd before sitting down next to Evie, who had begun to look pale. As the crowd dispersed, Alice and Blaine wandered up to the pair.

'Are you alright Evie?' Blaine asked, looking concerned, 'you're really pale…'

'Yeah, I mean, all that shouting can't be any good. And you've been standing in the cold for so long,' said Alice, who had crouched down beside Evie and was rubbing her back.

'She's been using her powers over time,' Hannah informed them.

'Anything solid on your theory?' Blaine asked.

'Look, just because you're happy living in ignorance, doesn't mean that everything is what it seems!' said Hannah, standing up, 'I've had it with you! I mean, why do you hang out with us if you don't even like us?' she said, getting close to him. She looked quite despite Blaine's towering height.

'It's not like I was going to abandon Alice just 'cause she's got poor tastes in friends!' he retorted with a haughty expression.

'Excuse me Blaine?' Alice stood up before him, her mouth open.

'Well… yeah, you heard me. They're just… weird,' he stuttered, his cheeks turning a subtle shade of pink.

'They're my friends! They've stuck by me, why can't I do the same? I expected more from you Blaine, I really did,' she looked away, saddened.

'Fine, whatever. I'm leaving,' Blaine turned on his heel and left, leaving a shattered Alice behind.

'Alice… Evie's not looking too good,' Hannah approached her. Evie had drawn her legs up to her chin, she was coughing and shaking.

'She's been coughing all day… the cold?' Hannah asked as Alice tried to help Evie up, who stumbled a little.

'We have to take her to the infirmary, okay? Do you know where that is?' Alice asked, she didn't know where the infirmary was because she hadn't needed to go.

'Yeah, I'll take her. You go, alright? We'll be fine, won't we?' Hannah gave Evie a little shake.

'Okay, but tell me how she is as soon as you can,' Alice let go of Evie and watched as they walked back towards the buildings.

* * *

'I'm not going to forgive you.' 

'I didn't ask you to,' he replied sitting down next to Alice.

'Then what…?' Alice asked, placing her book on her lap.

'I've seen Hannah, and she's told me that Evie's got glandular fever, and 'cause of that, something's wrong with her spleen.'

It had been a week since Hannah took Evie to the infirmary, and a week since Alice spoken to Blaine.

'Oh,' replied Alice, not knowing what else to say.

'Yeah…' he replied, in the same predicament.

'I hope she gets better, it's been really quiet without her,' Alice commented, trying to break the awkward silence that fell over them.

'Yeah,' was his only reply.

'Wait, how'd you find out when like, you can't go near anyone with glandular fever? It's contagious…'

'I asked a doctor,' he replied bluntly, raising himself from the cushiony library chair.

'Blaine, please. I don't want to stop talking to you,' Alice, looking at her feet. She was never very good at confronting a problem, 'I mean, I know they're weird and it's fairly obvious you don't like them… but… they're my friends, and you have to accept that, or I can't be yours.'

Blaine stopped walking and sighed, 'Alice, don't be stupid. I've missed having you around so much this week it's been crazy,' he slowly walked back to her.

'It's just… they remind me so much of what I am. They're just so _different_,' he muttered.

'What you are? You mean a mutant?'

'Well, yeah,' he slumped back down onto the chair, 'I used to be so normal… and I was so happy. They just remind me of what I know I'll never have again.'

'Oh,' Alice had no idea that Blaine ever felt this way. He had always been so caring and cheerful it was hard to imagine someone who suffered within.

'But… being around you, that makes me happy. So, I guess I'll try and be nicer to Hannah and Evie? Who knows… maybe they were onto something,' he grinned, Alice noticing how red his cheeks had gone.

They had only just reached the door out of the small library when someone small and blonde hurled themselves at Blaine and Alice.

'Hey, pass this on. Hannah is holding a meeting, she knows something big,' the boy pushed a small piece of paper into Blaine's hand, dropping a few others in the process. He scooped them up and hurried into the library to find more students to tell.

* * *

'I know the truth!' Hannah roared to the crowd. A significant number of people had come, and the demountable classroom was pretty close to full. Though, Alice could tell, quite a few of them were there to see if the rumors were true. Those rumors consisted of either there actually _was_ a sinister group of people at this place, running twisted experiments, or that Hannah and Evie were just insane, paranoid girls with too much time on their hands. 

'Well, what is it?!' shouted a voice from the crowd.

'I am here on my own because Evie is sick. She's so sick we can't go near her, or we'll get sick too. I am starting to wonder if she's still here, in this dreadful place!' Hannah continued, ignoring the question.

'What's the point of this nonsense?' another student called out.

'The point is; how could Evie get glandular fever if no known cases were present? It is so obvious! It is no coincidence that she fell ill at the same time she started to understand what's actually happening!'

'So, you're saying… someone did this to her?' the same student asked, followed by a ripple of murmurs.

'I'm saying, Evie has been silenced! I'm saying that we should all co-operate to solve this mystery, once and for all!' she replied whole-heartedly.

'Mystery? This is ridiculous! I mean, why do you want to think so badly on people who took us in to help and teach us? Just 'cause you're not happy here doesn't mean we aren't either! I say, show us the proof!' called a boy standing next to Blaine at the back of the room. Blaine nodded ever so slightly.

'Well, why won't they ever let us use and develop our powers? They want the power over us, that's why! Why did Evie suddenly get sick and disappear? To hide the truth!' Hannah fired back, her eyes blazing.

'I don't believe this propaganda drivel, you'd have to be really stupid to anyway. The staff here are pleasant and supportive, and I rather like them. Why ruin this for everyone? We feel safe here, we ARE safe here!' he shot a dirty look right at her. Hannah didn't relent, staying firm with her beliefs. Though, as he walked through the crowd to leave the room and the other students followed shaking their heads, talking amongst themselves, Hannah showed only a slight sign of defeat. Her shoulders hunched forward a little and she wore a cheerless expression. Alice moved up to her friend and attempted to console her, but Hannah threw her arms away and sneered, 'just you wait. I know it's the truth, and I'll find out for myself.'

Later that night there was a slight rumbling that was felt throughout the dorms, only to be explained by a slight tremor. The following day, Hannah wasn't anywhere to be seen.  
They said they had sent her home.

* * *

A/N: Holy Cow! Man, every moment of this chapter was pure agnoy. Ugh! I had to say it. I've been complaining from the moment I started writing it to everyone who'd listen to me. It served its purpose, in more ways than one. One being, it distracted me from the impending DOOM that is University, and the horror of finding out I have to get my own Tax File Number...  
So yeah, I understand the general tragic nature of this chapter, but I really had to force this one out. 

I shall leave thee with a despondent sigh!  
Bethiex.

Don't forget to** REVIEW**

**NEXT CHAPTER:** _Rooms_. Want a preview? Well, as a congratulations for reading this far, I'll give you one!

_'Are you sure? Have we looked everywhere?' and it was as though as soon as that idea had nestled into her mind she began to feel odd._

_Like she had began to drift apart; like she was turning into everything, everywhere. Somewhere she could hear the confused cries of Blaine, but she was only vaguely aware of him. She was searching now. Drifting, becoming part of every particle around her. And she saw it._

_The stark realization of what she found had her hurtling back into her ghost-form close enough to Blaine for him to see her._

_'What was THAT all about?' he practically shouted at her._


	5. Rooms

**5. Rooms**

'It's not so terrible here, is it?' Blaine asked Alice. They had decided to ditch class and hide outside while the sun was out. There was a slight chill hanging around them, but it didn't bother either one, they were much too concerned with their absent friends. It had only been a few days since Hannah's disappearance, but no one had heard anything.

'Yeah…' she reflected absent mindedly. It was just like being at school… or a boarding school, at least. Though, she had to admit, some of the staff had shown a greater than usual amount of interest into her powers. Alice turned to Blaine and asked, "Do you think what Evie heard could be, you know, true?'

Blaine snorted, but looked at Alice apologetically, knowing that the thought worried her.

'I doubt it, though. I don't think Evie uses her powers properly anyway. Most of the time it's like she pieces together random thoughts, rather than hear something right, all the way through,' he glanced at Alice.

'You don't say much about it, but I can tell. It bothers you, doesn't it?' he asked, and Alice nodded.

'I could, well… investigate, if it'll make you feel any better… you know, check the infirmary and whatnot. See how Evie's going,' Blaine offered, hoping to cheer Alice up, 'you know nothing can really happen to me when I'm in spirit form, and after I'll let you look at what I saw.'

'I couldn't let you do that… especially on your own. No way!' Alice exclaimed.

'Well,' Blaine grinned, 'you could come with me.'

Alice's mouth gaped open in shock – he wanted her to copy his powers. For her entire stay so far not once had she needed, or wanted, to use her powers – unless she was stuck for directions. She had little use for them, especially when she lost what she'd copy if she didn't call on it regularly.

'Come on, it can't be that bad,' he urged, getting excited.

'But I'll amplify your powers… what happens if I like, float off? Or can't get back to my body? Someone needs to stay here to watch after your body!' Alice urged. She knew copying powers was something she shouldn't turn into a habit – there was something so alluring about it, the way the region holding another mutant's abilities drew her in, made her happy, gave her confidence and energy; something she shouldn't turn into a habit because it was addictive.

'We'll dump our bodies in your room, Shelly won't care, she doesn't seem to have any idea of what's going on anyway. Please? It'll be fun!' Blaine persisted, his eyes gleaming.

Alice sighed with defeat.

**x**

Ten minutes later they were sitting on Alice's bed, Blaine practically jumping around from excitement.

'Calm down or I'll copy some secret memory by accident!' she threatened, and he immediately relaxed a little.

'Alright, this'll take like a second for you, okay?' she told him before letting her powers kick in. She knew her eyes would darken, and hoped it wouldn't startle him enough for him to fight her out of his mind. She slipped into a slight hypnotic trance, though she was still aware of the world around her, and opened the door to his mind fairly easily.

She was almost immediately drawn to his power-center, and upon arriving she felt her confidence increase and began drawing the power and energy away from him. Alice kept drawing from it, filling her entire being, when she suddenly realized what she was doing and drew back into her own self.

She blinked and looked at Blaine, who was sitting there, still waiting for something to happen.

'Done,' she informed him. He looked at her with a perplexed expression.

'Alice? Are you alright?'

'Of course I am, c'mon, let's go!' she urged, wondering why he sounded so alarmed. She was sitting right in front of him. Then it hit her, she turned and looked down. Her body was lying on her bed with a vacant expression on her face – she was already in spirit form, and she wasn't sitting in front of Blaine, she was floating near the ceiling.

With all her concentration, she forced her being to float downward to face the boy on her bed, who jumped at the sight of Alice's ghost. Catching on fast, his own body slumped down on the bed and he floated up to her.

'How do you do this? How do you stop yourself from floating off? I can't control myself!' she exclaimed.

'Don't worry, I'll keep hold of you so you don't have to stress about controlling my… your… powers,' he took her ghostly hand and led her through the walls and away from her room.

Blaine knew exactly where to take Alice, to calm her mind. It seemed illogical that they – or at least Evie – would be anywhere else but here. He led her through walls and rooms, keeping close to the ceiling, knowing that people were still able to see them, though faintly. Alice quickly figured out where Blaine was taking her and her anticipation grew. Though this excitement was clouded with pessimistic thoughts of finding something she didn't want to see. She clung onto Blaine's hand as best as she could in fear of drifting away as they emerged into the infirmary hall-way.

Each room was at least half its maximum capacity with mutant children and teens playing, sleeping, coughing and hooked up to machines. Most of these people, Alice had never seen before.

'How can there be so many of them?' she murmured to herself. Blaine continued looking closely in each room whilst avoiding any security cameras. 'Maybe it was Evie's glandular fever,' he replied with a snigger.

'Speak of the devil,' he stopped pulling her along and pointed to a bed in a room of four. On the bed sat a young girl with gaunt skin, drinking greedily from a large plastic cup. There were only two other girls in the room; one asleep and the other reading. As Blaine and Alice floated down in front of her, Evie's eyes went wide in shock, she tried to talk but only moaned in pain.

'We came to check that you're alright. Looks like you're worse, though…' Alice reached her indistinct hand towards Evie's shoulders to hug her, but to no avail.

'She can't talk, her throat's all swollen,' Blaine guessed, Evie nodded sadly. 'See? She's okay. Just sick. Give her some more time and she'll get better,' Blaine told Alice, who was having a little trouble believing that – Evie was rapidly shaking her head. She stopped abruptly, looking slightly green.

'What do you mean?' Alice asked.

Evie tried to describe what she needed to tell them, both mouthing and actions, until she simply gave up at the blank faces of her friends, and pointed to the ground.

Blaine and Alice looked at the floor of the room with a skeptical glance.

'There's nothing there.'

But Evie kept pointing, making obscure hand actions – a person walking on her palm – the ground – then pointing below it. She huffed at their stupidity.

'_Below us?_' Blaine muttered.

'Yes,' she replied, sounding as though she had forced that small, rasping noise from her inflamed throat. She coughed dryly and flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. Blaine led Alice silently below the ground.

For a while they only floated through rock and packed dirt, Blaine seemed to know where he was going, but it wasn't long before Alice lost all sense of direction and couldn't tell what way was up and what was down.

'See? Nothing,' he stated flatly.

'Are you sure? Have we looked everywhere?' and it was as though as soon as that idea had nestled into her mind she began to feel a strange sensation.

Like she had began to drift apart; as though she was turning into everything, everywhere. Somewhere she could hear the confused cries of Blaine, but she was only vaguely aware of him. She was searching now. Drifting; becoming part of every particle around her. And she saw it.

The stark realization of what she found had her hurtling back into her ghost-form close enough to Blaine for him to see her.

'What was THAT all about?' he practically shouted at her, 'you were there one moment… then gone!'

'I told you I can amplify your powers! I was waiting for something like that to happen. I sorta… just… became everything. Like my spirit just drifted apart from me. But I found something! Look!' and she led him to the direction of what she saw, ignoring his protests and pleas to teach him what she had just accomplished by accident.

It was a large room far below the surface of the original building, with a few smaller rooms leading off from one side. They drifted down into the room to take a close look. Alice, feeling a bit more confident with Blaine's powers, let go of his hand to look around for herself. It looked like some sort of hospital room, with machines and beds lined up neatly in rows. She floated to one of the doors and went inside; it was small and box like, with a weak yellow light on the ceiling and a small space at the bottom of the door.  
And out of nowhere, an alarm went off.

'Alice? Where are you? We need to go NOW' Blaine's voice called urgently.

Alice tried to float out of the box-room, but couldn't – she couldn't push herself through the door.

'Blaine! I'm in one of these room - I can't get out! Come get me!' she called out, and moments later another alarm went off.

'BLAINE!' she called out, realizing that he must have drifted off into another room and was most likely trapped.

She was getting tired, the sound of the alarms were blaring all around her, and though she felt weak, she was beginning to become restless. She needed to be back in her body; this was unnatural for her – for anyone. No one can be separated soul and body for this long without being a monster.

The alarms stopped, and the sound of chatter picked up, though it was muffled through the thick door.

The space on the door suddenly filled with light as people peered in at Alice in jer spirit form.

'It's that Kaey girl and Blaine Marsos. They're both using his powers, we should find their bodies,' said the person who looked in.

'They're in my room!' Alice called to them, hoping they'd hear her.

'She's trying to say something. Send word up to find their bodies, if we know anything about the boy's mutation, it's that they can't remain disconnected forever.'

**x**

It seemed like an age before the door was opened and Alice sprung out eagerly, forgetting where she was, only concerned with finding her body. And there it was, lying on a steel table, eyes opened with that same vacant expression she had left it with. Blaine's wasn't there - he wasn't anywhere - but she didn't care. She just wanted to be back in her body. Without thinking she dove in and felt her spirit connect back to every cell, and felt her mind hold fast back into place.

She gasped and tried to sit up; though she was far too weak to do so.

'Don't move too much. It takes more energy the longer you've been from your body. Your friend Blaine should have known that,' said a voice from across the room.

Suddenly it all came back to her, and looked around frantically for any sign of who spoke.

'You need to rest,' was all he said before she felt a wave of fatigue hit every part of her body and mind.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It's been a long awaited thank you, but it's here nonetheless.  
Keep reading, maybe review, both would be spectacular - but I'm not too fussed.  
On another note, this will be my last update for _at least_ a week - I have an IT camp to attend, eep!

Cheers!


	6. Consume

**6. Beyond power.**

Alice woke once again, though this time rather than feeling cold steel beneath her, she felt the warm comfort of a bed – her bed. Someone had moved her. She rolled over and faced an already awake Shelly, who peered at her curiously.

'What is it Shelly?' she murmured into her pillow.

'You've been asleep for an awful long time, I was wondering if you'd be hungry…', Shelly said, reaching behind her, not taking her eyes off a dazed looking Alice.

'How long?' Alice asked, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

'Almost two days… here,' Shelly held out a chocolate bar. Alice bolted up right in shock. 'TWO DAYS?' she exclaimed.

'Why, yes. I suppose you were awful sick. Everyone's been getting sick lately. Principal Simons came a few times to check on you, but not Blaine, I wonder why, you two were awful close friends," she said, mostly to herself.  
_Blaine_… She needed to know if he was alright, and he would either be in the infirmary or his room.

'Uhh, thanks for watching my stuff,' Alice mumbled as she stood, trying to make her shaky legs work on demand, 'You can have the chocolate, I'm not very hungry… where are my shoes?'

'You weren't wearing any when they brought you in,' Shelly replied already eating the chocolate, 'I suppose you didn't need them before you fainted – that's what they told me.'

'Alright… thanks Shelly I'll see you, 'kay?' Alice called as she ran from the room.

Alice knew there was little hope of finding Blaine in his room, especially since she didn't know where it was, so instead she ran to the infirmary.

'Hello, can I help you?' asked a short, chubby nurse as Alice came tearing around the corner.

'Blaine,' she huffed breathlessly, 'I'm after Blaine.'

The nurse slowly typed his name into a computer, there was a beep and she looked calmly up to Alice.  
'I'm afraid, dear, that he's not ready for visitors, I'll let you know when you can pay him a call, though,' she smiled.

'I'd prefer to see him now,' Alice demanded.

'I'm sorry, but you can't.'

Alice backed away from the desk and began pacing around, she had to check if he was alright, it was her fault that this happened. If she hadn't been so damned afraid.  
She stopped pacing, '_Blaine wouldn't give up'_, she thought… he would have gone in and made sure she was alright. Without thinking, she threw herself over the desk and hit the button to open the door that led to the recovery rooms.

'What on earth are you doing?' the nurse yelped, wide-eyed, trying to pry Alice off her desk.

'I'm seeing my friend,' Alice snapped back before running off down the hall.

**x**

Every cold, grey room was full.  
Every bed filled with a silent, unmoving mass.  
It scared her to think of how sick all these children and teenagers must be.  
She didn't know where to begin to search for Blaine. Perhaps Evie would know, but she hadn't the faintest idea where _she_ was either.  
Why was he there to begin with? What had happened?  
The final room out of the countless many had only one figure laying still on the bed. A figure with a familiar vacant expression on his face.

'Blaine,' Alice said softly as she approached his bed, 'What happened to you?'

'Alice?' someone called her name, and she looked hopefully at her slumbering friend, though she knew that it wouldn't have been him.

'The front nurse called me to say you had come barging in,' John Simons said calmly, walking up behind her.

'What's wrong with him?' Alice asked, almost pleading.

John brought out a chair and sat beside her, resting his head on his hand, 'We found him like this when we found you.'

'…what?' she could hardly remember what happened, just that they were trapped away from their bodies. She remembered that feeling, like every second that went by something inside her wanted to tear right out.

'When we opened the doors to the chambers you had rushed back into your body, but Blaine, well, he wasn't in there. We know he got in, but we don't know how he got out.'

'That's his powers!' Alice began hopefully, knowing that he could drift apart – she had done it herself, 'he doesn't have to stay as a spirit… he can sorta, become everything around him! I did it! He's still around somewhere!'

'Alice, I know that you copied his powers, that part was exceedingly easy to guess, but yours were much stronger, more developed… you could do things with his powers that he couldn't for many years, that is the nature of your powers, you amplify others – despite the fact that you cannot control them. That's why you… survived,' he said flatly.

'Blaine is still here, I _know_ it,' Alice persisted harshly. But something else began to bother her, '_why_ did you have those chambers to begin with? They _trapped_ us in.'

John sighed and looked away, unsure of what to tell her. He knew that he should do his best to gain her trust, but he could only achieve that by telling her the truth.

'That's not something you should worry yourself about, Alice,' he told her, looking at Blaine.

'I'm worried because it's hurt my friend. Are all those other kids sick too? What about Evie? And Hannah! I can't believe it! Explain to me what's going on!' she pushed away from her chair and stood up, crossing her arms.

'Alice, Alice, Alice,' John sighed, 'what I'm about to tell you must_never_ leave this room. Can I trust you on that?' he asked, contented when Alice nodded.

'You see, in order to fully understand the nature of mutations we need to understand the individual. This is a learning facility, not only for you – the students, but for us; for me.'

'What do you mean?' Alice asked sure she wasn't going to like where this was heading.

'Those children… their abilities, hold such wonder. If we could harness it, isolate it, convert it, imagine what we could learn!' he sighed, his eyes shining.

'Though, that sort of knowledge is not an exact science, trial and error, mistakes have been made, but they are fixed.'

'You… experimented… on _children_?' Alice spat out in disgust.

'No! We have never hurt them! We work to understand them! Their abilities can help others! If we find a way to connect all of them with others, all will be equal and there will be no fear about control! But we have never, deliberately hurt anyone,' he stressed.

'What do you do? Pit kids against each other? Push their powers to extremes? That's sick! You _have_ hurt them, the proof is all around you!'

John stood up and walked closer to Alice, who began to back away.

'You needn't worry dear, your powers are useless when you are unconscious, but we would never harm you. Alice, we want you to help us!' he asked.

Alice wanted to throw up; this was all too much for her. She wanted to run away, and never see this place again, but she couldn't move. He had blocked her path, she was trapped.

'I'll… I'll need to think about it,' she said, hoping he wouldn't see through the lie.

His eyes gleamed. 'You'll have all the time in the world… however, you can't leave this place. I hope you understand that I cannot have you jeopardize our research.'

This, in simpler terms meant that if she agreed or not, she couldn't leave.

She knew far too much.

Alice glanced back at Blaine who lay listlessly, she didn't want to leave him alone like this, and he didn't deserve what happened to him. If anything, she should be in his place, but maybe… just maybe, she could fool John Simons long enough to escape and help Blaine, and the rest of the children as well.

'What do you need me to do?'

**x**

She sat nervously in a rather large room, strapped to all sorts of scientific equipment that John Simons had hurriedly explained. In fact, it was really just pointing and saying its name.  
Alice wasn't too sure of what she was meant to do, so she just sat there, clinging to the sides of the metal stool.

'Now Alice,' boomed a voice overhead, 'this is a basic test that we have all of our subjects complete, just to see your power's capabilities.' Alice could hear the switch as the microphone turned off, just as a door opened and another, smaller person stepped into the room. Behind her the machines powered down and switched themselves off so Alice could peel the adhesives from her skin.

'Uh, hello,' said the figure, a short Asian girl of about fourteen with long brown hair. Alice sat still, flicking her gaze to the window behind which stood the doctors and John Simons, altering her expression into an accusatory, 'what do you want me to do?', and as if reading her mind John Simon's voice echoed through the air, 'use your powers. Just follow Chontelle's lead; she's done this before.'

'Alright...' Alice replied nervously, hoping that Chontelle would be happy not to try anything. To her surprise, however, Chontelle, as if she gained some new found confidence, stood up straight with her arms out. Alice stared at her as she flew up high above her head and positioned herself as if to attack.

'What's happening?' Alice yelled out.

'You are displaying your abilities!' said an almost too cheerful John Simons, 'Chontelle is one of our more powerful telekinetics, I'm sure you will both have fun! Think of it as a sort of game… who ever stays in the longest wins –a test of stamina!'

Alice rolled her eyes at the sheer childishness of it before getting off the stool and stood up, preparing herself for an attack, which she was lucky to do, for the moment that she had gotten off the chair, it had torn itself apart with such a force she was flung a few meters through the air.

She moaned as she got up off the ground, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of being pelted by telekinetic forces. Alice didn't want to use her own powers, because it was fairly obvious that if she was to amplify Chontelle's powers, it wouldn't end nicely, but she saw very little choice – she had nothing else to defend herself with.  
The only problem was that Alice couldn't get into a position where she could look right into Chontelle's eyes and copy her powers without putting herself at risk.

'_Maybe I don't need to? It couldn't hurt to try… it'll be better than trying to hide…_' Alice thought desperately. She had been busy trying to dodge telekinetic spikes, that the thought of _more_ bruises was pushing her to try anything. Alice locked her gaze on the whole of Chontelle, trying to get inside her mind whilst running away from what was being hurtled at her.

It wasn't working.

'_Ugh! I can't do anything here! I need to get to her level or something_', and with that thought, she had created a plan. It was simple; she bent down, slipped off her shoes and threw them up at Chontelle – one missed, and the other hit her square on the head. Chontelle went red with anger and Alice could feel herself levitating up off the ground. As she got closer to the girl, something began to constrict around her neck, making it harder for Alice to breathe.

'You didn't just make a mockery of all my power,' threatened Chontelle, with cold, hard malice in her eyes.

'No,' chocked out Alice, finally getting a good lock on Chontelle's eyes, already opening her mind, 'your power will be nothing compared to mine…'

And she was inside Chontelle's mind.

It was different here than anywhere else; her placid exterior did not do what was in her head any justice. It was dark, red and violent. Memories of pain and torture flashed across the walls of her mind for all to see. The brutal images of both imagination and memory tried to weave themselves through Alice as she pushed through, doing her best to ignore it. Finding her powers wasn't a hard task – it pulsed out an enticing energy, it lured Alice to the spot. Getting there was the challenge.

As she began to copy Chontelle's powers, she became slowly aware of the energy she was losing at the same time – she must've tightened her grip; so Alice kept on taking, more and more of Chontelle's energy, and as she took more, she wanted more – even when she knew Chontelle had let go of her throat.

It was the realization of the growing thirst that made her stop. Something within her own mind told her not to keep taking anymore, that it'll be bad, for both of them, and within that instant she was back in her own body, her head bumping on the ceiling of the room.

Chontelle looked up at her in shock, unable to understand how or what just happened, and barely able to keep herself in the air.

'What did you do to me?' Chontelle screeched, looking as if she was struggling to stay awake.

'Your powers are mine,' a voice escaped Alice's mouth, though she was only vaguely aware of it. Alice was busy trying to maintain her position in the air, and trying not to lose herself to the powers she had duplicated and amplified. It was as if they were trying to control her, and she felt her arms move on their own accord. She was still stuck to the ceiling as her hand began to form something solid, yet invisible – and it was large. She knew what was going to happen, but she couldn't control her powers, they were becoming too much for her, she couldn't drown it out, couldn't keep them down.

In a fleeting moment of self control she yelled at Chontelle who was still suspended, watching Alice curiously, with a slight smirk on her face. Chontelle could see that Alice couldn't restrain the powers she had. She had seen it before in the other power-stealers; it would burn them out. She would win.

Alice cringed, clawing at the walls, determined not to lose the battle. She screamed as she finally gave in, and all that had built up was released.

Chontelle was hurled against the wall and her unconscious body slumped down on the floor, Alice didn't bother looking down if she was alright. She was concerned with her powers; she wanted to see how far she could push them, how strong she really was now.  
The ceiling and joining wall around her began to crack, she could hear it, but she didn't care. She turned her gaze ever so slightly towards the room with the doctors, her smile asking for a new opponent  
The door opened again, this time an older boy stepped inside and looked up immediately, knowing exactly where she was. He looked to his right and there was a younger girl lying on the floor, and up in the corner was Alice with a frenzied look plastered on her face. These weren't her powers.

Alice propelled herself right off the wall at the boy's direction but he jumped out of her way; Alice might have an increased power, but she was sloppy and careless. He knew how to handle himself.  
Something blasted Alice on her shoulder, causing her to yelp out in pain. She staggered, trying to maintain her balance when another shot hit her other shoulder. She turned violently around to face the boy who stood still, his hand opened and aimed at her.

'Move and you'll get another bolt, another _stronger_ bolt,' he warned her, trying his best to avoid any more fighting.

Alice stopped; what strange, new powers he had, '_what was that? Electrical bolts? Oh, imagine the energy that's stored within him,_' she thought, practically salivating. Nothing could stop her; no one could possibly hinder her now. The boy could move fast, but she could hold him still – and that is exactly what she did. With a carefree thought she was face to face with him, and though he tried to ward her off by radiating himself with his powers, she opened her eyes wide and within seconds she had copied his power and taken nearly all of his energy, causing him to collapse. There was nothing to hold her back, nothing at all.

'Alice,' a faint voice echoed around the room. She couldn't see where it was coming from, paranoia seething from her, was someone trying to stop her? No, she couldn't have that, and she let the boy's power erupt from her being, laughing at her invisible enemies.

'Alice stop!' the voice continued, as if behind her. She turned and there was still nothing.

'Who are you? Show yourself, and prepare to be obliterated!' she snarled, catching the scared faces of the scientists as they watched, safely sealed within the same walls that had trapped Blaine and herself.

_Blaine_… a thought, her own thought flickered in and out of her mind.

'Alice, they'll keep on sending more people in… stop now before you hurt anyone,' the voice began to fade.

'I don't care! Let them bring the whole damned school in! I'll show them what I can do! I'll show them I'm not weak!'

'You aren't weak, if you were… you would've left me, half alive half dead in that room. This is not the Alice I know! Alice please, don't. You'll kill _yourself_,' the voice pleaded.

'WHERE ARE YOU?' she yelled, trying to control the power surge she felt as soon as she duplicated the boy's powers. She screamed as she tried to confine both the boy's and Chontelle's powers within her being, without them taking possession.

'I'm right here,' the voice replied.

Alice turned around slowly, growing more aware of her surroundings and of that voice.

* * *

A/N: We're nearing the end as well, so it's time for me to decide on a second installation to this story. I have tonnes of ideas, just gotta start writing! Anyway, hope this was a nice chapter - it was a first for me to write any sort of action sequence involving powers.

Next Chapter: You'll have to read to find out!


	7. Hopeless

**7. Hopeless.**

'Calm down. Let them help you, they want to help you,' the voice repeated over and over around Alice. She had slowly and painfully regained control over her body, no thanks to the voice that had calmed her.

'Who are you?' she asked, drifting back down to the floor, wincing as she looked at the two unconscious students.

Somewhere, within her, she wanted to believe it was Blaine – that he existed somewhere in the air around her, communicating with her, but her better judgment told her not to. Not to get her hopes up high in case she was wrong.

'Alice!' John Simons called as he ran into the room looking very pleased, 'that was spectacular! I didn't realize the true extent of your abilities! Wonderful!' he praised her.

'But, those two kids… I… hurt them,' she quickly realized, trembling at the pain she had caused another human being.

'They will be alright, we have a hospital facility! But my word! I am eager to see what else you are able to do!' John Simons beamed.

'Would you mind I rested? And I would like to make sure they're alright, I want to apologise when they wake up…' she bit her lip. Alice felt utterly disgusted with herself for what she had done. They didn't deserve to be hurt, she had stupidly lost control.

'I'm afraid we haven't got that sort of time,' he replied looking at her intently, 'It's just one small, last thing I would like to try, alright? It'll be just us, no more students who are keen on showing off their own abilities, is that alright?'

'I…suppose,' she replied wearily.

'Okay, so we'll move into my office for this, I fear this room might not hold out much longer,' he said with a grin, clearly still admiring Alice's powers.

The walk along the cold, grey corridors filled Alice with more apprehension as they got closer to John Simons' office. She wasn't sure what he meant by seeing what else she could do.

'Now, this won't take too long,' he started once they had sat down in the soft sofas under a large window, 'so, let's get started!'

'Alright…'

'So, I've been wondering about what you are able to do,' he began, 'and I do wonder indeed, if you are able to channel everything you've copied, or taken, into someone else. That is what we're going to test right now!'

He sat there, waiting for something to happen, leaving Alice to decide what to try and channel to him. '_As if I can, though… it's impossible. How would I even consider doing something like that?_' she thought to herself.  
Knowing full well that he wouldn't be satisfied until it worked, or until something happened, Alice decided that if she was going to try, she'd channel the map of the school she had found useful.  
So she sat and looked into his eyes and opened up the door, but this time, instead of jumping into his mind without restraint, she tried to heave the image of the school through, with her. At first it was as though it refused to budge from her mind, but with a few pulls it fell through into his mind.

'That was… easy,' she whispered in surprise, looking at John Smith, who had a look of wonder on his face. '_I cannot believe that worked_,' he thought cheerfully.

'A map to the school, nice. That must be quite handy!' he applauded her.

'Can I go now?' Alice sighed, glancing around the room. The blinds were down and the window was covered by a heavy maroon curtain; she had absolutely no idea what time it was, or what it could possibly be.

'One more thing, okay? Let's try channeling abilities. You took that boy's abilities to produce electrical currents, let's see if you can pass it on,' he leaned over, looking at Alice right in her eyes. Alice, too tired to fight simply sighed and nodded. She really wanted to leave and to sleep for the next ten years.  
Once again she pin-pointed the boy's powers, which surprisingly were still within her, and attempted to push it into his mind. Though, strangely, it was a lot harder to channel than the map – it required more energy than she had anticipated, so as soon as she was done she collapsed into the sofa, struggling to keep her eyes open.

John Simons' eyes were wide open. He could _feel_ the power flowing into his being, he could _feel_ the power within him right now; as if it were trying to adapt itself to a new body, trying to alter his own body to better suit itself.  
He looked at the tired girl on the sofa and smiled, this girl is his very own source to total, unlimited power.

'Is it ready?'

'We need to wait for her to awaken.'

Alice moaned softly, opening her eyes slowly.

'Sir? She's moving.'

She cringed at the blaring lights that were aimed directly at her, so she looked helplessly to the floor.

'Ah, Alice, you're awake! Wonderful!'

Alice tried to make out how many others were near her, but the lights were blinding, forcing her to keep her head down. She attempted to lift her arms up to shelter her eyes from the light but she couldn't move them – her limbs had been fastened down to the hard, rigid chair.

'Uhh,' she moaned, realizing that she was indeed, trapped.

'Don't mind the harnesses, don't… mind,' Simons' trailed off, not bothering to finish his sentence. The light that was hurting Alice's eyes suddenly ceased to reach her, and cautiously she let her eyelids flutter up, only to meet to hard stare of Simons.

'What are you doing? Where am I?' she asked, most defiantly confused.

'Lab 24 C, I'm sure it'll look familiar. We are here to finish the experiment,' he answered, clearly becoming anxious.

'But you know everything I can do, why are you doing this?' Alice pleaded.

"You can enhance any mutant's powers. There is no way that you can leave here without us knowing _how much_ another can gain from you," he crossed his legs and peered at her, 'it's simple really. I've graciously allowed myself to be the subject of this experiment,. All you need to do is copy my powers – my _original_ powers – and then return them to me.'

'No!' her jaw dropped. He was using her like one would use a machine, an object. She tried to escape, wildly thrashing about in her chair, whilst he looked at her, grinning. '_That electricity power you took! Use that_,' the thought suddenly appeared in front of her. She grinned back at him and threw a bolt at him.

Or, at least she thought she did.

Though, there was nothing visibly wrong with him – apart from that sick grin.

She looked up at him, completely confused.

Of course… it was only logical. If she gave powers away, they would leave her for good. It made sense.

'_Damn_,' she thought, already giving up.

'Realized it was useless? Look at me,' he got right up to her face and held her chin in his hand, not releasing his stare.

'No,' she replied, deciding not to give in.

'Do not push me, if you do not use your powers I will force you to,' he told her in a deadly voice, and in response to stared defiantly at the ground. And out of nowhere a intense pain ran through her body, she looked up, hurt and baffled.

'That's right. You forget that I have both my pow- abilities, and Jake's. Power over biological matter _and_ the ability to create electrical currents, now, will you do as I say?' he fired another bolt at her body, causing Alice to cry out loud in pain.

'Alright! Just, stop hurting me!' She yelped as yet another invisible bolt hit ran through her.

His mind was clean and sterile, just like the buildings he worked in, and similar to those very same buildings, it got dirtier as she continued through. Memories tried to make their presence known to her; memories of all the times he hurt other mutants that could steal powers to try and use it for his own gain; mutants that didn't make it any further than where she is now. The shock sent her straight back into her own body and she retched, gagging at the site; at this twisted man's mind.

All those other helpless human beings that he had used and killed for his own sick gain started filling her whole being with anger – pure hate.

'You…_killed_them,' she muttered, her anger still rising.

'They aided me and my research,' he replied flippantly, waving his hand as if it were nothing.

'You are sick and you are twisted, and I will NEVER help you!' she boomed, and at that moment she realized that her body still contained some remnants of Chontelle's telekinesis. The bonds around her wrists and ankles rattled, trying to loosen themselves so that she could escape – her mind busy trying to pull out whatever power she could find. This was the only way she could escape – she had to leave, she had to get help.

Fellow doctors flooded into the room upon hearing the commotion that was occurring within, trying to use their own powers to calm her down. John Simons, however, waved his hand, telling them to stop. She would burn out soon enough.  
Alice didn't notice his indifference as the bonds snapped and she raised herself in the air and flew towards a set of double-doors. Using as much power she could muster, she forced the structures apart and raced out of the room.

As soon as she left the room, her battle to maintain control began. Her mind couldn't handle the over-bearing nature of enhanced telekinesis much longer. Her vision went white, and she felt her body slam into a wall.

'Just…let my…find my…friends,' she winced, pleading to herself.

Why was it so hard for her to maintain control? Was Chontelle naturally crazy? Wild? What was it?

Determined to find and rescue her friends, she forced herself to keep flying, despite being thrown around like a ragdoll.

But she had no control.

She had to admit it.

She was hopeless.

'Just go.'

It was back.

'Blaine!' she screamed, 'HELP ME!'

A brief wispy outline formed in front of her, but it was so vague Alice almost instantly began to question if it was real or not.

It's mouth moved, but the sound came from all around her.

'Just go,' it repeated.

'I can't! Not on my own!' she cried, trying to see Blaine's faint image as it faded out of view.

She felt her anger die away as she half ran, half flew despondently through the halls, throwing herself around the corners and out into the facility's grounds.

She was greeted by a sudden cold darkness that she knew wasn't going to relent, but she had gotten too far to stop, and there was only one obstacle left.

The fence stood tall above her, only about ten meters away – far enough not to start nullifying her powers – she knew that if she got too close she would be far too weak to climb it, so she was forced to use her second option – to destroy it, or fly over it.

She poured as much of her powers into making the fence move, and after feeling like her head was going to explode it submitted to her powers and a small portion of it fell before her, and with a solemn look set on her face, she ran outside the compound, jumped and began to fly as far as she could carry herself.

* * *

A/N: Done! (...or is it?) Hehe! Thanks to everyone who got this far through the story thus far! 


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

'Sir?'

He turned just as a figure walked into his office.

'Yes?' he replied.

'She's stable.'

**x**

Her eyes fluttered open, scanning the foreign room quickly. A machine next to her beeped, and she wearily turned her head – it was some sort of heart-monitor.

A woman scuttled in and opened the plastic blinds, illuminating the room so much so that her eyes began to water.

'It's good to see you've woken. Don't worry about moving just yet, you've been out for quite a long time,' the woman walked over to the end of the bed and looked at the girl.

'Where…am… I?' she asked softly – her throat was quite dry.

The woman walked over and looked at the girl curiously.

'New York, dear…' she answered, placing her hands on the bed.

No, this couldn't be right. There's no way. She must still be dreaming, she couldn't remember doing anything that could have brought her to an entirely different country.

She felt her head spin as her vision went dark.

* * *

A/N: Yes! It's all done! Completed! Over! Next story is on it's way! 


End file.
